Waikouaiti Coast Community Board
MINUTES
Unconfirmed minutes of an ordinary meeting of the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board held in the Warrington Surf Club Social Rooms, Warrington. on Wednesday 08 March 2017, commencing at 5.30pm
PRESENT
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Chairperson |
Alasdair Morrison |
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Deputy Chairperson |
Geraldine Tait |
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Members |
Mark Brown |
Mandy Mayhem-Bullock |
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Cr Jim O'Malley (from 5.36pm) |
Richard Russell |
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Rose Stringer-Wright |
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IN ATTENDANCE |
Cam McCracken (standing in for Bernie Hawke), Hamish Black (Parks Operations Manager), Andrew Lord (Transport) |
Governance Support Officer Arlene Goss
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Andy Barrett and Judy Martin were invited to the meeting to speak about the Waikouaiti Resource Recovery Park, but sent their apologies and will attend at a later meeting. Kirby Leckie spoke on the issue of freedom camping. She said she was one of the people who surveyed campers on behalf of the council. She spoke to many campers and they raved about how good it was there. She didn't see any rubbish left behind. When she was there it was quiet. People played music quietly. A lot had travelled both the north and south island, others were starting their trip in the south island. The survey was for two hours every second evening from 7pm to 9pm and all campers were surveyed during that time. Cr O'Malley joined the meeting at 5.36pm Alan Cooper spoke on the issue of freedom camping. He and his wife own a house at Warrington. It used to be a peaceful place but this has changed with the domain becoming a freedom camping destination. People can no longer have picnics because this part of Warrington has been transformed into a campground. Increased volume of cars. Vehicles coming and going and there is a lack of privacy, and pressure on toilet facilities. This has led to criticism of the location on the internet. The areas originally set aside in the bylaw for different types of camping have never been enforced. One solution is to fence off some sections of the domain and return part of the domain to locals for picnicking. Setting up freedom camping sites has been a substantial cost to DCC and ratepayers. Difficult to gather revenue from freedom campers. He asked what plans are afoot for revision of the bylaw and finding alternative sites. The chairman updated the meeting on the background to the issues and community board efforts to improve the situation. The bylaw is currently being reviewed and will be publically notified, with public submissions called for soon. Everyone will have input into that process, including the community board. Discussion followed on the review of the bylaw and points raised by Mr Cooper. Margie Harris spoke on the issue of freedom camping. Margie Harris said her property backs onto the Warrington Domain. There were big problems there at Waitangi weekend. Large sessions of group drinking, making noise, and hooning in cars. This is of concern to people. She is concerned there is no way to stop problem people. Locals with small children feel the domain is not safe with so much traffic. Some groups of people are menacing with scary dogs. She said there is no monitoring of how many nights people are staying. Some people are living there. One couple is living there for three months and working in Dunedin. She would like to see the numbers regulated. Josie Harris said the numbers were not anticipated in the beginning. There are too many campers. They are taking undersized cockles and paua from the beach. She highlighted Chinese people taking shellfish and also one person taking a dump near the water. The signage around shellfish gathering and freedom camping needs to be in Chinese. At 6pm the chairman moved to extend the time of the public forum. This was seconded by Mark Brown and the motion was carried. Josie Harris would like to see more coordination between DCC and MPI on the impact on local shellfish, and baseline studies on marine life. She would like to see the camping area reduced to half of the second domain so the community can use the remaining area. A lot of dogs are off the lead on the domain. Dogs need to be on a lead at all times. Margie Harris said her fruit trees have been stripped the last two seasons by freedom campers. There should be a camera recording cars using the domain in case of a criminal act. The chairman then read a letter on the issue of Freedom Camping from Naomi Ingram of Warrington. |
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There were no apologies. |
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There were no changes to the agenda.
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Members were reminded of the need to stand aside from decision-making when a conflict arose between their role as an elected representative and any private or other external interest they might have.
Member Mark Brown handed the Governance Support Officer an updated list of interests and these will be added to the register.
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Hamish Black (Parks Operations Manager) and Peter Walker from Delta spoke to the community board about the parks maintenance contract. This is a five year contract, audited by an outside contractor. They welcome feedback from the board when the level of service is not right for a particular area.
The chairman asked if it was possible to increase the size of the rubbish bin at the Blueskin Library. Hamish Black offered to come back to the chairman regarding this and it will be added to the action list.
The chairman asked Hamish Black for an update on the clearing of forestry at Waikouaiti. Staff have recently undertaken a drone survey to get images of the wider area to use in the drawing of a landscape plan. Discussions are underway on what the area will be planted with, and the location of walking tracks.There was concern from community about the amount of slash left lying on the ground. This will be scraped up and put in rows. Planting the area is a 2-3 year project. Tracks will be shown on the landscape plan for feedback from the community. Hamish Black thinks it will be possible to have a public meeting in about three months. The board suggested that the northern area near the car park would be the best place to start planting.
Hamish Black also answered questions about the removal of trees from the Waitati cemetery. Discussion on this matter was held later in the meeting under the Governance Support Officer's report.
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Aalbert Rebergen (Biodiversity Officer) from Parks and Recreation, sent his apologies and will attend a future meeting. |
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Cr O'Malley provided the board with an update on Council activities.
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Moved (Chairperson Alasdair Morrison/Member Rose Stringer-Wright): That the Board:
Notes the report from Cr Jim O'Malley. Motion carried (WC/2017/012) |
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The meeting concluded at 8.20pm.
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CHAIRPERSON